Passenger Trains > More MI HSR video

Enjoyed Ron's upload from Lawton, MI and thought I'd throw in my iPhone dashboard video.. Also from Lawton in April this year, the old depot is on the right side of the crossing. Anticipation! Note how the right flasher set drops out intermittently. A green Lawton station sign from the PC era is posted on the MOW hidden by the depot. Remember, Conrail got rid of this line early on from Kalamazoo west. Today it is a passenger rail showpiece.

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Further west down the ex MC now Amtrak line we catch an eastbound at speed through the platforms of the nicely restored Dowagiac depot. Both depots at Niles and Dowagiac still have their black w/gold leaf lettered NYC station signs (as well as Amtrak signage) up.

This train is not one of the Dowagiac stops, obviously. It's a rush to have a train go by at speed that close for sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/14 12:09 by chico.

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Nice, how come they allow such high speeds with no quad gates? Have they hit any cars or trespassers yet while going 100-110mph?

rms492 Wrote:
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> Nice, how come they allow such high speeds with no
> quad gates? Have they hit any cars or trespassers
> yet while going 100-110mph?

just an accident waiting to happen ... scares the hell out of me and i'm sure every engineer on these runs ... at those speeds hitting a vehicle sure has the probablity of rolling the vehicle and train lifting off the rails ... god forbid if the vehicle is a truck of any kind ...

Are there any other safety measures built in? I thought I read that if a car gets stuck on the crossing, somehow there is an advance warning system to the engineer? (not sure if much could be done anyway at those speeds). Please fill me in. But really, I'm surprised at the lack of quad gates. Here in sunny Southern California, quad gates are in places where trains don't even come close to high speeds like that.

See that white fence line in the distance? It goes the entire length through town that takes care of track crossers.

Same in other towns it passes thru.

Can't argue with the lack of quad gates, with median to prevent trapping oneself, nor the white knuckles of the hogger hoping nobody pulls out. At least they aren't push pull.

Notice the engineer lays on horn all the way thru town..

Chico



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/14 15:29 by chico.

Nice videos!

Perfect for demonstrating the Doppler effect in high school physics class!

chico Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Enjoyed Ron's upload from Lawton, MI and thought
> I'd throw in my iPhone dashboard video.. Also from
> Lawton in April this year, the old depot is on the
> right side of the crossing. Anticipation! Note
> how the right flasher set drops out
> intermittently. A green Lawton station sign from
> the PC era is posted on the MOW hidden by the
> depot. Remember, Conrail got rid of this line
> early on from Kalamazoo west. Today it is a
> passenger rail showpiece.


Not just the right side the left also fails at times. that should be reported.

amtrakwolverine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> chico Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Enjoyed Ron's upload from Lawton, MI and
> thought
> > I'd throw in my iPhone dashboard video.. Also
> from
> > Lawton in April this year, the old depot is on
> the
> > right side of the crossing. Anticipation! Note
> > how the right flasher set drops out
> > intermittently. A green Lawton station sign
> from
> > the PC era is posted on the MOW hidden by the
> > depot. Remember, Conrail got rid of this line
> > early on from Kalamazoo west. Today it is a
> > passenger rail showpiece.
>
>
> Not just the right side the left also fails at
> times. that should be reported.

It seems to fade out and back in a pattern so it may be designed to do so. There may be something about the lights coming on that attracts attention better. Someone will likely have the answer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/14 04:24 by howeld.

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just an accident waiting to happen ... scares the
> hell out of me and i'm sure every engineer on
> these runs ... at those speeds hitting a vehicle
> sure has the probablity of rolling the vehicle and
> train lifting off the rails ... god forbid if the
> vehicle is a truck of any kind ...

As much as I like high speed, I tend to agree.

A flying vehicle also could cause all sorts of collateral damage in towns like these.

I do appreciate seeing the videos.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/14 11:52 by ts1457.